A presentation system is a system that is capable of processing a print job (e.g., any incoming job with content that can be rasterized for display and/or printing) for viewing. When processing an incoming print job, a presentation system rasterizes print data from the job, and provides the rasterized print data for viewing via an output device. For example, a presentation system may generate physically printed jobs via a printer, or may output digitally rendered jobs to customers via an e-mail server. Presentation systems can vary in size from a small desktop printer to a massive print shop that includes multiple print servers and continuous-forms printing machines.
Presentation systems, especially those that process a high-volume of print jobs, are often required to perform in specific ways in order to meet customer demands. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are sets of requirements that indicate how a presentation system should process incoming jobs for a customer. For example, an SLA may indicate that certain incoming print jobs should be processed within a certain period of time.
SLA tracking is a method of determining the level of compliance of a presentation system with an SLA. Existing SLA tracking systems can be used to determine, for example, whether print jobs that are expected to be received at the presentation system from a customer have actually been received at the presentation system.
In existing SLA tracking systems, a customer must explicitly list each and every job that a presentation system should receive, as well as the time at which each job should be received. The SLA tracking system then uses this list to determine which jobs were received on time, which jobs were late, and which jobs were not received at all.
However, in large print shops that process thousands of jobs per day, it can remain a daunting task to set up SLA tracking systems because new lists of expected jobs may have to be generated by customers every day, which takes a substantial amount of time and effort. Therefore, enhanced SLA tracking systems are desirable.